Public Online Seminar: Airline Mitigation of Propagated Delays via Schedule Buffers: Theory and Empirics by Prof. Jan K. BRUECKNER (7 May 2020)

Title: Airline Mitigation of Propagated Delays via Schedule Buffers: Theory and Empirics Speaker: Prof. Jan K. Brueckner, Distinguished Professor, Department of Economics, University of California, Irvine Date: 7 May 2020 Abstract: This paper presents an extensive theoretical and empirical analysis of the choice of schedule buffers by airlines. With airline delays a continuing problem around the world, such an undertaking is valuable, and its lessons extend to other passenger transportation sectors. One useful lesson from the theoretical analysis of a two-flight model is that the mitigation of delay propagation is done entirely by the ground buffer and the second flight’s buffer. The first flight’s buffer plays no role because the ground buffer is a perfect, while nondistorting, substitute. In addition, the apportionment of mitigation responsibility between the ground buffer and the flight buffer of flight two is shown to depend on the relationship between the costs of groundand flight-buffer time. The empirical results show the connection between buffer magnitudes and a host of explanatory variables, including the variability of flight times, which simulations of the model identify as an important determining factor. Bio: Jan K. Brueckner is Distinguished Professor of Economics at the University of California, Irvine. He received an B.A. from UC Berkeley in 1972 and a Ph.D. from Stanford University in 1976, and was a long-time faculty member at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign before coming to UCI in 2005. He has served as visiting professor at UC Santa Barbara and UC San Diego, and has been a visiting scholar at many foreign universities. Brueckner has published extensively in the areas of urban economics, public economics, housing finance, and the economics of the airline industry. He served as editor of the Journal of Urban Economics for 16 years and is currently a member of the editorial boards of 8 journals. He has served as a consultant to the World Bank, the US Department of Transportation, many of the major airlines, and other organizations.

Public Online Seminar: From Silver to Platinum: The Effect of Frequent Flier Tier Levels on Airline Demand by Prof. Jos van OMMEREN (5 May 2020)

Title: From Silver to Platinum: The Effect of Frequent Flier Tier Levels on Airline Demand Speaker: Prof. Jos van Ommeren, Professor, School of Business and Economics, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam Date: 5 May 2020 Abstract: We estimate the effect of tier level within a frequent flier program on members’ demand by exploiting several thresholds corresponding to different tier levels. We demonstrate that members tend to increase demand at the end of the calendar year to reach a higher tier level. We also show that members do not manipulate demand in earlier months, which allows us to apply a fuzzy regression discontinuity approach to identify causal demand effects of higher tier levels. We show that obtaining a higher level induces members to increase their demand, but these results are tier level specific. The lowest tier level induces members to increase their annual demand by only one flight, while the highest tier level increases their demand with 7 flights. We show that tier levels create switching costs for high-demand members as these members are not affected by free flight awards. Bio: Jos van Ommeren (1966) is Professor of Urban Economics at the VU University. He studied Econometrics at the London School of Economics, United Kingdom and received his PhD in Economics at the VU University Amsterdam. His main interests are in the economic analysis of transport and urban issues, including company car taxation, agglomeration, spatial structure, infrastructure improvements, parking policy, congestion and Airnbnb. Jos has also worked at the Dutch Central Bank, the European University Institute, University College London, Cranfield University and Frisch Centre. He is a fellow of the Tinbergen Institute.

Public Online Seminar: Competition in Congested Service Networks with Application to Air Traffic Control Provision in Europe by Prof. Nicole ADLER (29 April 2020)

Title: Competition in Congested Service Networks with Application to Air Traffic Control Provision in Europe Speaker: Prof. Nicole Adler, Professor, Operations Research Department, The Jerusalem School of Business Administration, Hebrew University of Jerusalem Date: 29 April 2020 Abstract: We analyze how a network based market impacts competition, equilibrium charges and efficiency. We find that congested networks served by oligopolistic firms within a supply chain may be more cost efficient and offer lower prices under horizontal integration as compared to the competitive outcome. Furthermore, if a government is interested in encouraging technology adoption in order to increase capacity, this requires either hybrid price caps or vertical integration in order to share both the costs and benefits. The model is subsequently illustrated with a case study on air traffic control provision in Western Europe, in which it is shown that substantial changes in the regulation are required in order to create a more cost efficient sector with increased capacity. Bio: Nicole Adler is a professor and head of the Department of Operations Research and Operations Management at the School of Business Administration of Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Her major research interests include game theory and productivity estimation applied to the field of transportation. Her work has analysed huband-spoke airline competition and mergers, public service obligation tenders, airport productivity and recently, she has utilised game theoretic concepts in order to understand air traffic control markets. Nicole is currently an associate editor for Transportation Research part B: Methodological.

Public Online Seminar: Optimal Use-it-or-lose-it Rules for Airport Slot Management by Dr Achim I. CZERNY (27 April 2020)

Title: Optimal Use-it-or-lose-it Rules for Airport Slot Management Speaker: Dr Achim I. Czerny, Associate Professor, Department of Logistics and Maritime Studies, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University Date: 27 April 2020 Abstract: This paper considers a single airport and two time periods in which an incumbent airline competes with a new entrant airline in the second period. Slot allocation is based on grandfathering and features priority for new entrants. Grandfathering is conditional on a minimum use of capacity in the first period (use-it-or-lose-it). The analysis shows that the incumbent's preferred use-it-or-lose-it requirements are lower than the welfare-maximizing requirements, which indicates the need for government involvement for passenger protection. Numerical simulations further indicate that the discrepancy between the incumbent's and the welfare viewpoints are decreasing when airport capacity is expanded and increasing when passenger demand and airline rivalry is growing. The policy lesson is that use-it-or-lose-it requirements should be made on a case-by-case basis in the sense that they are more relaxed when airport capacity increases and tighter when passenger demands and airline rivalries grow. Link to this Paper: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3243395 Bio: Dr Achim I. Czerny is Associate Professor at the Department of Logistics and Maritime Studies (LMS), Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Director of a new academic program in Aviation Management and Logistics, member of a Steering Committee for the establishment of a MSc Programme in Aviation Management and Finance in Hong Kong, and Editorial Board Member with Transport Policy. Previously he was employed as researcher at the VU University of Amsterdam, Department of Spatial Economics, and Assistant Professor of Regulatory Economics at the WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management. He studied Economics at the TU Berlin and holds a doctoral degree in Economics from the TU Berlin. He was the head of the local organizing committee of the International Transportation Economics Association (ITEA) school and conference hosted by LMS in 2018, is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the European Aviation Conference, and board member of the German Aviation Research Society (GARS). He has published numerous research papers in transportation journals and economics journals. He was awarded with the Best Overall Paper Prize of the ITEA Conference on Transportation Economics 2014 (with Anming Zhang) and the Certificate of Excellence in Reviewing from Transportation Research Part B in 2013.

1st GARS Online Panel Discussion

Topic: The Coronavirus Outbreak: An Unprecedent Shock for Aviation – What Now? Panellists (in Alphabetical Order): • Andrew Charlton Managing Director of Aviation Advocacy • Ian Douglas UNSW Sydney and Chair of the International Air Services Commission Australia • Peter Forsyth Monash University, Melbourne • Xiaowen Fu The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong • Brian Pearce Chief Economist International Air Transport Association (IATA) • Mike Tretheway Chief Economist & Chief Strategy Officer of InterVISTAS, Vancouver Moderator: • Achim I. Czerny The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong 1st GARS Online Panel Discussion was held successfully on 14 April 2020. Brian Pearce from IATA highlighted the severity of the Coronavirus outbreak on aviation. Worldwide, flights were down almost 80% by early April. The airline industry was fragile even before the outbreak because of a long tail of weak, non-profitable, airlines. Many Panellists were concerned that the current situation could endanger, or even reverse, the progress made in the liberalization of aviation markets. But, the Panellists still mostly agreed that the current situation could force the aviation industry to restructure and consolidate. That could benefit the industry in the years to come. The recording of Online Panel Discussion is available now.

Dr Miao Song Awarded NSFC Excellent Young Scientists Fund 2019

Dr Miao Song obtained National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) Excellent Young Scientists Fund (Hong Kong and Macao) for her research. This is the first time that this national-level fund is made available to scholars at eight universities in the two cities. Each shortlisted scholar will receive a grant of RMB 1.3 million over three years for conducting research. Dr Song's research lies prominently in applying operations research methodologies to provide practical solutions for inventory optimization and the proposed project is entitled "Inventory Optimization in Operations Management". Based on the needs of industry development in China, the project will study the high-speed rail inventory allocation and biopharmaceutical inventory management problems in the practical context. It aims at providing managerial insights and decision support to industrial practitioners while pushing forward the research in management science and engineering.

Two LMS teams won in the Cyberport University Partnership Programme (CUPP) 2019

Cyberport University Partnership Programme (CUPP) 2019 is a financial technology (FinTech)-focused entrepreneurship programme which offered students a chance to participate in an Entrepreneurship Boot Camp in US and receive mentorship from industry elites. Winners will be given HK$100,000 cash grant by Cyberport Creative Micro Fund to kick off their businesses, and the interview opportunity for Cyberport Incubation Programme. Among 13 winning teams, two teams are from LMS: Team PlaySmart Ms LAU Siu Yan Andrea, Ms TSANG Kit Ying Hilda and Ms WONG Tsz Yau Ivy, who recently graduated from BBA (Hons) in Global Supply Chain Management. Team 1661 Miss LAW Wing Sum and Mr TSOI Ho Ching, studying BBA (Hons) in International Shipping and Transport Logistics, teamed up with Mr Kwok Ho Hin, a PolyU Design student. Details of the CUPP 2019 can be found at here. More coverage about CUPP 2019 can be found at: HKET TOPick - 13支大學隊勝出數碼港金融科技創業賽　各獲10萬元資助 Cyberport Facebook

LMS Mentorship Programme 2019/20

LMS Mentorship Programme 2019/20 is now open for enrolment. If you are interested to be our mentors or mentees, please click enroll via the online application forms below by 4 November, 2019, Monday. Enrolment for MENTOR Enrolment for MENTEE Details of the programme can be found at HERE.

Orientation Programme & Departmental Gathering on 27 Aug 2019 (Tue)

Welcome to the family of the Department of Logistics & Maritime Studies (LMS)! Time Activities Venue 10:00 am - 12:30 pm Introduction of Programme Briefing on Work Integrated Education (WIE) Programme Briefing on FB Student Development Activities Information of General University Requirements (GUR) Introduction of Centre STARS Students are required to bring the following items: 2 recent photos (3.8cm x 5cm) A copy of official transcript of previous AD/HD programme (for Senior Year students only) Room N001 BBA (Hons) in Aviation Management and Logistics Room N002 BBA (Hons) in Global Supply Chain Management Room N003 BBA (Hons) in International Shipping and Transport Logistics 12:30 pm - 1:30 pm LMS Departmental Gathering with Academic Advisors Room N101-N103 You are required to attend both Orientation Programme and LMS Departmental Gathering unless you have adequate ground of absence. For our better arrangement of the seats and materials, you are required to register via the online form by 22 August 2019 (Thursday). *If you are unable to attend the Orientation and the Gathering, you should also submit the reasons of absence for consideration via the online form. Should you have any questions, please contact your Programme Secretary: Programme Contact Person BBA (Hons) in Aviation Management and Logistics Ms Pam Yiu  Tel: 2766-7919 Email: pam.yiu@polyu.edu.hk BBA (Hons) in Global Supply Chain Management BBA (Hons) in International Shipping and Transport Logistics Ms Brooky Chan Tel: 2766-4607 Email: brooky.chan@polyu.edu.hk Inclement Weather Arrangements When the Hong Kong Observatory announces that Signal No. 8 or above or Rainstorm Black Warming is likely to be hoisted within the next two hours during 6:30 am – 12:00 nn on 27 Aug 2019, or is hoisted at 6:30 am on 27 Aug 2019, the Programme Orientation scheduled will be postponed to 28 August 2019 (10:00 am – 12:30 pm) at PQ304 (BBA-AML), PQ305 (BBA-GSCM) and PQ306 (BBA-ISTL).

BBA-ISTL students won 1st Runner-up at Hackathon@UST

Miss LAW Wing Sum and Mr TSOI Ho Ching, studying BBA (Hons) in International Shipping and Transport Logistics, teamed up with Mr Kwok Ho Hin, a PolyU Design student, and won the first runner-up in hackathon@UST 2019. The award was attained with their innovative mobile app ‘IDIET’ that tracks diet habit on eating out with a reward system and provides health and meal suggestions based on algorithm. Hackathon@UST is an overnight competition organised by HKUST and Jardine Restaurant Group with over 90 teams from 31 countries joined to develop an innovative software idea to improve restaurant operations on 13-14 April.